Highs and lows: Some of the best, worst of the week

FREDONIA ELECTION DATE – Fredonia is continuing to move forward to have village elections take place in November. This makes sense. Voter turnout will be higher, the county Board of Elections won’t charge to run the elections and new board members will have adequate time to see the village’s budget instead of being thrown into a new budget year. Residents will have the final say, but first the village board has to get it on the ballot. We applaud the effort to get this done.

DAIRY DEAL – The federal government has now increased its withholding on Social Security, with the compromised Fiscal Cliff agreement. One good thing about it, though, is the Farm Bill that was passed. There was concern that milk prices could double this year without the bill’s passage. At least the government got that one right.

BILLS CHANGES – Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson is in the Hall of Fame for a reason. He has had a hand in building the team’s successes, especially during the late ’80s and early ’90s. But since then the team has fallen on hard times. So Wilson has put Russ Brandon in charge. Time will tell how Brandon runs the organization, but one thing is for certain; at 94 years old, it was time for Wilson to step back and let someone else run the team.

WORST

CLOSING INDUSTRY – It’s tough being three days into the new year and hearing that about 375 jobs will be lost. But that’s what happened on Thursday when Ralcorp, which is in the process of being purchased by ConAgra, announced they’re closing Petri’s and Carriage House in Dunkirk. County Legislator George Borrello called the news a “punch in the gut.” It’s what we all felt and still feel. Local and state officials are all pledging to do all they can to keep these businesses open, but it’s a long shot. You’ve got a business in St. Louis deciding to lay off hundreds of people and the business buying them is located in Omaha, Neb. What makes you think that either of these companies care at all about the families in Western New York?